UMaine Dining celebrates announcement of Whoopie Pie as official state treat

Oct. 25—The dining department at the University of Maine, in Orono, recently celebrated the announcement of the whoopie pie as the official state snack by creating a four-foot tall mountain of whoopie pies. The mountain was a replica of Maine’s Mount Katahdin and was made with 1,500 of the pies, according to a university press release.

The mountain included whoopie pies with blue frosting at the base to resemble the Penobscot River, and pumpkin, chocolate chip, blueberry and a white cake whoopie pie with chocolate frosting filling to form the rest of the mountain.

"The university bakers decided to do a whoopie pie mountain with different flavored and colored whoopie pies and food coloring," Glenn Taylor, director of culinary services, said in a press release.

Maine's Bill LD 71 designated the whoopie pie as the state treat. The university’s President Paul Ferguson and Amos Orcutt, president of the Maine Whoopie Pie Association, were among several speakers gathered to celebrate the whoopie pie at the event. The release states that the small event quickly became a larger event as word of the whoopie pie mountain spread. The department also served whoopie pies at two other dining facilities throughout the day.

It was a decision that brought the duo recognition at Monday night’s MenuDirections 2015 awards ceremony in Memphis, Tenn., which is part of FoodService Director magazine’s annual conference geared towards foodservice operators and suppliers.